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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · cell · pound · net · spell · fine · racket · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. spell — letters
  4. cell — a phone
  5. face — part of the head
  6. spell — magic
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cell — in biology
  13. face — to confront
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — after costs
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. net — for catching
  21. pound — a weight
  22. spell — a short time
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com